Rimless eyeglasses typically include two lenses, a bridge connecting the two lenses and two bows. The bows are attached to the lenses such that a portion of each bow covers a small portion of the front surface of each lens. Often, the bridge also covers a small portion of the front surface of the lenses. Since an objective of rimless eyeglasses is to eliminate as much as possible any part surrounding the lenses, the portions of the bridge and bows protruding on the front of the lenses are undesirable.
Eyeglasses with detachable bows also exist in the art. Typically, the bows are attached to a rim of the eyeglasses through indentations, or cavities, provided within the bows that engage pins protruding from the frame of the eyeglasses. The eyeglasses and bows are often configured such that the bow cannot be rotated past a certain point on a hinge formed by the pins and the indentations. To that effect, part of the bow abuts the frame when the bow is in a fully opened configuration. Since rimless eyeglasses do not have a frame, detachable bows are typically not provided in rimless eyeglasses.
Another problem with eyeglasses including detachable bows, is a tendency for the bows to be relatively easily detached from the eyeglasses. This is highly undesirable as a bow that easily detaches from the rest of the eyeglasses could cause the eyeglasses to fall off of the user when worn, which could cause damage to the lens or any other parts of the eyeglasses.
To satisfy other constraints, detachable bows typically attach to the eyeglasses in a movement oriented substantially towards the lens. An example of such a detachable bow can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,328 issued May 24, 1994 to Silouette International Gesellschaft m.b.H. The reader skilled in the art will readily appreciate that if a torsion is exerted around a longitudinal axis of the bow in this patent, the bow will easily become detached from the lens.
In addition, if the user is hit in the face by an object while these glasses are worn, the bows by this construction stay attached to the eyeglasses. Therefore, the eyeglass can easily become damaged by such external constraints.
Furthermore, eyeglasses are often very expensive, therefore users usually only buy a single pair. It could be desirable in some situations to have a pair of eyeglasses that could be decorated in a plurality of ways.
Against this background, there exists a need in the industry to provide novel rimless eyeglasses.